International Ministries (IM) announced the Xtreme Team Mission Adventure Program is training two teams of young adults to do mission outreach in the South American countries of Bolivia and Brazil for the summer.
With Xtreme Teams, cross-cultural mission service becomes an adventure for American Baptist young adults.
Acting Executive Director, Rev. Charles Jones, said "We are pleased young people can express their faith, explore mission, and examine other cultures in depth through the Xtreme Team ministry of IM. I am sure these young adults will come back excited about the opportunity to bring God glory through this mission experience."
This summer marks the ninth anniversary of the Xtreme Team. Since 1998, teams have engaged nearly 150 young adults, ages 19 to 29, in seeking where and how God may use them in global mission.
Members of the Bolivia team include:
* Brianna Berglund, Centennial, CO
* Janelle Huffsmith, Fairport, NY
* Adam Logan, Port Angeles, WA
* Pete Scott, Maysville, WV
* Bethany Strunk, Normal, IL
* Natasha Bradley, Long Beach, CA
* Molly Grisham, Nashville, TN
* Ramiro Valencia, Cochabamba, Bolivia
* IM missionaries Iris and Mario Morales, Cochabamba, Bolivia
Members of the Brazil team include:
* Christy Brownell, Syracuse, NY
* Amy Kiker, El Dorado, KS
* Marcus Logan, Port Angeles, WA
* Gerardo Melara, Somerville, NJ
* Bethany Rollet, Chatham, IL
* Tommy Warf, Huntington, WV
* Lucia Calhau, Brazil
* Dario Diaz, Jersey City, NJ
* Daniel Jancitsky, Brazil.
* IM missionary Bruce Borquist, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
“Young adults on the Xtreme Teams learn to Xercise their faith, Xtend their hands in friendship and service, Xpand their world view, Xamine their values and Xplore God’s Word and world,” said Jonathan Hilsher, IM’s Coordinator of Volunteers in Global Mission. Hilsher said the Xtreme Teams provide opportunities for team members and their hosts to witness God at work.
During their travels, team members deepen their relationship with God while seeking where He wants to use them in the world. Team members are “Xpected to Xpress” what they have seen and heard when they return to their home churches and regions. “It was an incredible month; learning, seeing, touching, smelling, hearing and tasting what Bulgaria had to offer us and the rest of the world,” said Craig White, a member of 2004's Xtreme team in Bulgaria.
Angela Sprock, member of the 2005 Xtreme Team to the Republic of Georgia called her experience in the Republic of Georgia “life changing!” She said “The Xtreme Team Mission Adventure opened my eyes in understanding that the call to Christian discipleship is a call to change, to dare to be different, to live a life that is to the fullest…to the Xtreme!”
Both teams will participate in orientation at Judson College, Elgin, Ill., from June 28 through June 30, before departing for their mission destinations. Teams travel from July 1 to July 27. After debriefing sessions, they will share their experience at the World Mission Conference at Green Lake, WI, July 29 through August 5.
Team members post regular online journals, photos and slideshows to highlight their Xperiences throughout the trip. To follow the adventures of this year’s teams online, visit www.xtremeteamonline.org.
IM is a Baptist mission agency, established in 1814, which serves the more than 5,800 churches of the American Baptist Churches USA.
Globally, IM relates to more than 500 educational institutions and 125 hospitals and medical facilities. Missionaries work in partnership with some 15,000 trained national workers, who serve about 22,000 congregations and nearly 3,000,000 baptized members.